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Brenda claims her husband, Drew, is physically and verbally abusive to her 14-year-old son, Austin -- who suffers from ADHD and bipolar disorder -- and ridicules her intellectually disabled 20-year-old daughter, Destiny, making her cry. She accuses Drew of throwing Austin against a wall and constantly calling him names and threatening him -- and she says divorce is imminent if he doesn’t change. Drew denies throwing Austin against a wall and insists he’s not abusive -- he’s “aggressive” and “trying to get these kids ready for the real world.” He admits he has a short temper but says he’s tired of being made out to be the bad guy. Dr. Phil faces off with Drew -- does he have the kids’ best interest in mind, or is he just a bully? And, what is at the root of this stepfather’s anger? This program contains strong language. Viewer discretion advised. (OAD: 10-22-13)

You are disgusted with bullies but think its ok to call people stupid when they do. what you think, is stupid? That is the kind of thinking this step dad has....only problem is he is expecting a mentally retarded girl to not be mentally retarded...thinks that calling her stupid will somehow magically make her IQ go up. :/ Now that is some distorted thinking!

The show is about how a parent treats their children...not about adults talking to each other. Sure kids and adults do stupid things, including you and me, but as Dr. Phil points out this doesn't help the situation. It only causes alot of emotional pain, grief and anger.

So if the son's "brain was fixed..." that would be the end of Drew's problems, seriously!!!! This guy is an abusing bully & if I saw him doing this anywhere, I'd go toe to toe with him. Bully me you ignorant twit & see what happens to you. She should have tossed this self-described "king of the house" out of the house long ago and put her children first. This happens much too often. Not wanting to be alone is NO REASON/EXCUSE to put your children in danger. Pull up your big-girl panties and get your priorities straight!

You speak about all that was done for the son to figure out his behaviour but none about yourself and what you did to figure out your behaviour ... mirrors are the first place to look in this situations ... perhaps aquire one?

I have a brother with Downs Syndrome, and I belive the child in the video also was Downs. I cannot imagine degrading, verbally abusing or striking a mentally challenged child. These ppl are so loving, kind, innocent and forgiving ..... it upsets me to even think that anyone would hurt a child, in any way.

Shame on that step father for even thinking about yelling or hurting or being unkind to those kids.

I was very impressed with Dr. Phil's composure and insight into the step fathers past and why he is 'mad'.

When I was listening to the show today, it was like my life was on camera. The stepdad was describing my son perfectly! And, boy! I relate to the stepdad's frustration and reactions. I've made choices in discipline and words that I am not proud of. It can really be frustrating when you as a parent are being treated badly by a child. If anyone else in your life treated you with such disrespect and selfishness, you would end the relationship, but that is not an option with children.

HOWEVER...

I think there is a much deeper issue here. It sounds to me like this young man's diagnoses may actually only be secondary symptoms of a much larger problem. As I was listening and watching, all kinds of Fetal Alcohol Syndrome red flags went up, including the signs of his upper lip area, which is all that was shown on TV. FAS kids have brain damage, most commonly in the frontal lobe area which controls impulsivity. These kids cannot control their impulsive words and actions any more than a person with cerebral palsy can control walking with a limp. The problem is that most FAS kids look normal and even act normal in calm, comfortable situations and so it goes undiagnosed. If this young man hasn't been screened for FAS, he should be, both he and his sister. Getting the proper diagnosis changes everything--at least it did for me. Finally I was able to separate the behavior of my son from my son himself and realize the selfish, disrespectful, egotistical, asinine behavior, especially in relation to impulse, was not my son but his brain damage. When you look at it this way, it changes the way you respond as a caregiver. It is still frustrating and aggravating, but if it is for us, think about how much more is it for those with FAS? How frustrated would you be if you couldn't control your impulse and suddenly became someone else in stressful, uncomfortable situations?

If FASD is, in fact, the deeper issue here as it is for 40,000+ children born every year, this young man is being cheated. He should be receiving psychological and psychiatric counseling, neurofeedback, a psycho-educational evaluation and an IEP. Over 60% of these kids end up in trouble with the law because people refuse to accept it as a disability and deal with it as such.

I have been in a similiar marriage before. My ex was very hateful to my son. One day that all stopped when my son had enough of his mouth and went after him to beat is butt. He ran and grabbed our 2 girls and went in the bedroom and locked the door. He had his gun in there and said if he comes in he was going to shoot him. What a coward. I took my son out of the home and let him stay with my moma. DSS came out and took him permantly out of the home. We had to do concealing and he blamed alot of stuff on my son. He took a juvenile complaint out on him and my son had to do alot of different conceling that he didnt deserve. I stayed for 6 months trying to work on the marriage. But it didnt work. I left him. We got a divorce. I have forgiven him. We get along better now. And he does see his kids and when he comes to my house he is very nice to my son. He didnt want to change and he didnt want to listen to the Lord when the Lord was dealing him. But he has reaped what he sowed. But my son has forgiven him to. Im just glad that hes still a father to his kids and that we all get along now.